The highlight of this 10-day road trip will be the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This event is the most photographed event around the world. While traveling to the fiesta we will make several stops in and around Amarillo. On the return trip we will visit a historic military fort and the home to the official state of Texas long horn herd We will be pulling a pop-up camper so we will camp in several places throughout our journey.
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 8:00am; 0 miles; Beginning of trip.
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 8:05am; 1 mile; breakfast $10 & restroom. "EAT MOR CHIKIN"~cows
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 11:00am; 180 miles; fuel & restroom. US HWY 287
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 11:15am; 188 miles; lunch $15, restroom. US HWY 287. “Braums Makes Everything Better,”
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 2:15pm; 357 miles; snack $8, fuel, restroom. I-40
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 2:45pm; 363 miles; open 1-5 on Saturdays; no admission fee; souvenirs: 2 Texas Blue Dog Pins $25 each = $50. I-40. We enjoyed looking at the art of Larry Bell and Gabriel Dawe, and especially Gabriel's light art made with strings and light.
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 5:00pm; 370 miles; open 7am-10:30pm; dinner, restroom, souvenir. I-40. Sadly we weren't up to the challenge of the 72 ounce steak, but we were eye witnesses of someone else devouring it in only an hour!The restaurant is famous for its 72 ounce steak challenge and it cost $72 if you fail to eat it in one hour!
Day 1 - Saturday, October 1, 2016, 7:00pm; 403 miles; camp $24. I-27. Palo Duro canyon is one of the coolest works of nature yet, its extremely HOT! When we arrived we went to the overlook and took pictures and the next morning we went for a short hike and almost didn't make it back because of the heat!
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 8:00am; 429 miles; breakfast & potty. I-40. “A good place to sit and eat”
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 9:15am; 436 miles; spray paint left from previous visitors. I-40. This is the most odd place we have visited on our trip. It's tons of Cadillac cars from oldest version to the newest face planted into the ground! You don't have to bring any spray paint because the people who came before leave their bottles of spray paint.
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 12:00pm; 594 miles; fuel, potty, and snack. I-40
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 12:15pm; 594 miles; lunch. I-40
Tijeras
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 2:30pm; 696 miles; oddity-musical highway. I-40. More information on the board. The music was great! It was hard staying on the track though.
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 3:00pm; 719 miles; dinner & potty. ''Eat Fresh''
Day 2 - Sunday, October 2, 2016, 3:30pm; 720 miles; camp $35; evening session $10 per person
Day 3 - Monday, October 3, 2016, 8:00am; 722 miles; breakfast, lunch and snack $16.50 per person. "To inspire and nurture the human spirit–one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."
Day 3 - Monday, October 3, 2016, 8:45am; 734 miles; hiking; fee admission; $1 parking; lunch and snack purchased from Starbucks; souvenirs: $15 book-Albuquerque A Guide to Its Geology and Culture & $5 Petroglyph National Monument Postcards. This was very cool that it's so old and historic. It's also THE biggest petroglyph in North America.
Day 3 - Monday, October 3, 2016, 5:00pm; 743 miles; dinner
Day 3 - Monday, October 3, 2016, 6:30pm; 747 miles; groceries for days 4-7, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks ($26.50 x 2 people x 4 days = $212.00)
Day 3, Monday, October 3, 2016, 7:30pm; 751 miles; festival entry 2 sessions, $10 per person per session; camp $35